Away From Me
by CodeNameTargeter
Summary: It's 9 years after Tyria Tainer Ritril's first visit to Admiral Daala's detention center and things have changed in her life. When Tyria gets captured by Daala, her husband Cloud becomes frantic to get her back. But there's something about Tyria that neit
1. Not Quite Return

Title: Away From Me  
Author: NicolaAfyon  
Keywords: Wraith Squadron, Tyria Ritril  
Dramatis Personal:  
NRI Head Iella Wessiri Antilles (female human)  
General Wedge Antilles (male human)  
Commander Kell Tainer (male human)  
Captain Cloud Ritril (male human)  
Captain Tyria Ritril (female human)  
Kavin Ritril (male human)  
Cerise Ritril (female human)

**Chapter One - Not Quite Return**

Tyria Tainer Ritril cursed silently at the computer before her. Just two more layers and then she could download the data, pack up, leave Cloud City, and go home to her husband and her two children. Unlike nine years ago, now she had something to look forward to at the end of the vongin' NRI missions.

One layer left. Apparently, the Imperials had gotten a bit smarter and put more than two layers of security on their files and changed their passwords periodically. She frowned slightly in concentration. Just two more digits... two more digits... one more... almost there...Got it!

Being too professional about her work to let out a whoop of glee, Tyria merely allowed herself a smile before starting the download of information to her datapad. She leaned back in her chair, letting herself relax for a few moments.

She'd been gone for three days so far and if all went as planned, she'd be back on Coruscant by 1600 tomorrow. The hacker wondered how Cloud was coping with little Kavin and Cerise. The poor man's telekinesis powers were probably getting quite a workout.

A quiet 'ping!' brought Tyria out of her thoughts. She leaned forward to check the datapad screen. Data transfer complete. Excellent. Moving quickly, the blonde pilot began unhooking her machines, which actually didn't take her too long, considering that over half of the equipment was Imperial property.

She slung her relatively light bag in the small cargo hold of her X-Wing. Her orange and white R2 unit whistled at her. She smiled back at it.

"Yes Chunky, we're leaving now."

She climbed into the cockpit and began a startup of the two engines. "Chunky, get us started up and then resend this datapack to Coruscant, encryption codes G9 and A7. I'll plot us a course out of here." A questioning beep. "Yes, I'll let you double check the figures but you need to get that info to Iella now, Chunky!" A somewhat sarcastically affirmative beep. "You've been around XO for far too long." Another sarcastic beep. "Don't 'yes Captain Ritril" me, Chunky. Send the data package to the NRI." A beep that started affirmative and became a squeal.

"Chunky, what the Sith-" and then she glanced down at her tactical board. Six TIE fighters were coming in hot. This was not good. She punched the button that brought her s-foils to attack position and fired up her lasers, wishing that she were in her TIE Interceptor, which was back at Wraith base. Of course, she wished that the rest of the Wraiths were out here too, but wishing wouldn't do much good, firing her laser cannons would.

Two of the eyeballs came up right behind her, firing like mad. Well there was nothing she could about those two right now, not without a wingman. She jerked the stick to the right, dove down abruptly, and came back up behind another pair of TIEs.

Not even waiting for a targeting lock, she started to fire, managing to take out both of them.

"Chunky, have you sent the entire data package?" Tyria asked in between breaths. An affirmative beep. "Okay, good." She winced as a well-placed shot from a following TIE shook the ship. Her shields were now down to 55%, not good. Really, really, _really_ not good.

As a new pair of TIEs came roaring up towards her, she sent the craft into a tight spin and zoomed towards the TIEs, her lasers blazing. A quick tight loop brought her behind the lead TIE.

She flipped on the proton torpedoes and brought up her targeting computer. "Come on, come on," she whispered to herself as the fighter swerved in and out of the targeting bracket. The moment it turned red, she fired. And the moment that she fired, a well-placed hit from behind her brought down her shields.

"Shavit! Sorry Chunky, maybe your next pilot won't be such a hopeless flier. If there is a next pilot." She tacked on the last sentence as the three remaining TIEs cam in hot, lasers screaming.

Realizing that she only had seconds left before the TIEs blew up her shieldless ship, she punched the eject button for Chunky. Another blast of fire took out her starboard engine. Shields gone, starboard engine gone, R2 gone; damn was she screwed! Her day could not get any worse.

As she punched out her own ejection seat, two other things happened: the TIEs completely destroyed her ship just as she got clear and the _Gorgon_ appeared in orbit. Her day had definitely just gotten ten times worse.

That was her last conscious thought before the blackness claimed her and the _Gorgon's _tractor beam came out and pulled her and her droid in.

*~*

Slowly, Tyria came back to consciousness. She hated going EV, hated it. And then she remembered everything that had happened. And with it, came the realization that she was lying face down on the floor of some Imperial ship and that her hands were stuncuffed behind her. From what she'd heard from Mirax, the stuncuffs on her were considered illegal and she could tell why. They came up to her elbow and put a sithload of pressure on her shoulders.

Behind her, a door hissed open and two stormtroopers entered. Roughly, they brought her to a standing position and marched her out of there and into a secondary bridge room.

The trooper in front saluted sharply. "Admiral."

The woman standing there turned around to face them. Admiral Daala, what a surprise.

"Welcome back, Miss Tainer. It's been awhile since we've had the pleasure of your company."

Tyria let out a string of uncomplimentary phrases letting Daala know what she thought of her.

Daala frowned slightly. "Language, language Tyria. Do you use that around the children?"

"No, I save it for Imperial Bantha fodder like you."

The Admiral nodded. "You've gotten more defiant. It's going to be fun breaking you."

Tyria merely smiled at her, not letting any of the little temper she had get the better of her.

Daala stepped forward and tapped the rank insignia of a Captain on Tyria's chest. "New decoration there, Tyria? Last time, you were only a Lieutenant. Do they hand hose out as party favors or did you raid Major Loran's costume box?"

The blonde woman's eyes flashed angrily. "I earned it Daala. Every rank received in the New Republic was earned. Of course you wouldn't know. You Imperial women just sleep your way up through the ranks."

Tyria saw the slap coming before Daala's hand even came all the way up. Of course, it didn't do her much good as her hands were stuncuffed behind her. She winced slightly. Daala might be stupid but she could hit.

"Keep up all the big talk, little hacker girl. But it's not going to be just you who pays for it. It's going to be you, Cloud Ritril, and the others you hold dear who will."

Daala nodded to the stormtroopers and they grabbed her arms and started to leave the room. As they left, Tyria heard Daala say to the communications officer,

"Send her droid to Intelligence Headquarters tomorrow and set up a link so we'll know when it's received. I think I'll inform Ritril, Tainer, and Antilles myself."

Tyria's heart sank. Daala knew she was married to Cloud and probably about Kavin and Cerise as well. _Force,__ don't let Kell or Cloud do anything stupid._


	2. The Offer

**Chapter Two – The Offer**

Cloud Ritril smiled as he watched his daughter, Cerise, fiddle with the small hyperdrive unit he had salvaged from a beyond-repair X-Wing about ten years ago.  The girl was definitely mechanically inclined.  He glanced down at his wrist chrono: 1600.  Tyria was supposed to have been back 24 hours ago.   He'd give it another two hours before he'd comm Iella to ask where she was.

He looked up as Kell Tainer came into the room and picked Cerise up.  "How's my favorite niece?"

Cerise giggled as he swung her around and then set her gently back down again.

Kell turned towards Cloud.  "Is my sister back from Bastion yet?"

Cloud shook his head.  "She was supposed to be back 24 hours ago.  I'm going to ask Iella about it soon.  She'd not normally late."

The big man nodded.  "I know, especially if she's just been hacking.  In fact, I-"

He was cut off as both his and Cloud's comlinks started to beep.  They pulled them from their belts and answered them.

"Cloud, Kell, you both need to come over to Intelligence right away," Iella's voice came out.  "It's about Tyria."

"What, has she sent a message?" Cloud asked.

There was a pause.  "Not exactly."

Cloud cursed under his breath.  "We're on our way.  Ritril out."  He shut his comlink off and picked Cerise up.  He walked quickly to the lounge, dropped her off with one of her many "aunts," and then, simultaneously, both men broke into a run and sprinted down to the hanger bay.

Cloud started to go for his X-Wing, but Kell pulled him back and instead got into one of the landspeeders.

"X-Wings will take to long.  Besides, I can get us both there faster."

Two minutes and twenty broken traffic rules later, Kell pulled up to the Intelligence Headquarters.  Both Wraiths ran up the stairs to Iella's office, knocking over several people in the process.  The pilots came to an abrupt halt as they almost ran headlong into Wedge Antilles.  He held up a hand.

"Either of you have any explosives?  If you do, give them to me right now.  Oh, and blasters and lightsaber too."

Cloud's eyes narrowed but he did as ordered and beside him, Kell did the same.  Satisfied, Wedge moved aside and let them pass.  Iella sat in a chair behind her desk, head in her hands.

"Iella, where the hell is my wife?"  Cloud demanded.  As if in answer, the air above the holocomm behind them shimmered and resolved into the image of one Admiral Daala.

Cloud opened his mouth but Kell stepped forward and said something first.  "Where the hell's my sister, Admiral?" he demanded.

"Right behind me, Tainer.  Now I trust you won't be as rash as you were last time, Commander?"

Before either Wraith could respond, Wedge had placed restraining hands on either one of their shoulders and Iella had stood up to come help.

Daala's eyes narrowed.  "Oh wonderful, now we're all one big happy family."

"Make your point, Daala," Wedge said, his tone dangerous.

Cloud tensed up.  If the hologram had been real, his hands would be at her throat way before now.

"Same thing as before, Antilles.  I get Cloud City, you get back your little hacker girl, Tainer gets back his sister, and," Her gaze turned towards Cloud, "Ritril gets back his wife."

Silently, Cloud begged Wedge to agree even though he never would.

Wedge shook his head.  "Nope, no deal, Admiral Daala.  But how about this one; we get Captain Ritril back and in return, you save yourself an ass whooping."

Her green eyes narrowed.  "Don't toy with me, General.  I believe I'm the one with the upper hand here.  Tyria Tainer Ritril's caused the Empire problems.  I could order her death without remorse any moment."  She turned slightly and beckoned.  Two young officers stepped forward, a struggling Tyria held between them.  Her eyes glanced blankly at each of their faces for a moment before recognizing them.

Cloud took a step towards her, hand outstretched.  "Tyria, what is she doing to you?" he half-whispered.

Her flightsuit was ripped, the sleeves were next to nonexistent, and her normally neatly tied back hair was in total disarray.  But that wasn't by far the worst.  She was now sporting a black eye, a large cut on her forehead, and more bruises and small cuts everywhere that he could see.  The rest of her body probably sported similar bruises.  He couldn't tell, but it looked like her hands had been stuncuffed behind her back.

"Say 'hello' dear.  Say hello and goodbye," Daala said viciously.

"Hi Iella, Wedge.  Kell, Cloud, don't-" she winced as one Imp tightened his grip on her arm. "do anything," she winced again, "stupid."

She looked straight at Cloud and her eyes softened.  Cloud had long since learned to read Tyria's emotions from her eyes.  As she mouthed "love you," to him, her eyes held a silent apology.

Before either one of the couple could say anything else, Daala roughly shoved Tyria back out of the holocomm's range.

"'Ria!"  Cloud took another step forward and Iella pulled him back again.

"Now then, back to business.  I have what you want and you have what I want.  Think it over Antilles, I'll be in touch."  With that, Daala broke the connection.

Kell and Cloud immediately cast around the room for their explosives, blasters, and in Cloud's case, lightsaber.  Both men were headed towards the door when Wedge bellowed, "Attention!"

Out of reflex, both of them turned around and came to attention.

"Wedge, can you teach me how to bellow like that?"  Iella asked her General husband.

Wedge nodded and turned back to the pilots.  "Tainer, Ritril; sit."  He nodded again as they sat.  "I would've though that you'd figured out from last time, Kell, that going and blowing up the nearest Imperial stronghold does not help."

Kell cracked his knuckles.  "How long has she been missing?  What was the last time she checked in with Intelligence?"

Iella sank back into her desk chair.  "Two days ago when she sent us the datapackage.  She was supposed to stop on Kuat to refuel and then come right back to Coruscant.  She disappeared en route from Bastion to Kuat."

Cloud's head shot up.  "You mean you've know she was missing?  You knew?"

"We only had suspicions Cloud, only suspicions."

He stood up abruptly.  "Excuse me, I need to get back to base and try and find a way to explain to my children that their mother won't be coming back for a while and try to explain where she is."

Wedge nodded and handed the Wraiths back their stuff.  As Cloud was leaving, he heard Kell ask Wedge, "Any chance that this is like the thing with Adra a couple of years ago, General?"

He heard Wedge sigh.  "No, I'm sorry."

He clipped his lightsaber back to his belt and then stalked out of the Intelligence Headquarters, slamming the door behind him.

Demolitions Range first, or inform Kavin and Cerise first?  There really wasn't much of a decision there; he'd better blow off some steam before he went near his children.  He really didn't need to mentally scar them for life.


	3. Imperial Small Talk

**Chapter 3 - (Imperial) Small Talk**

Admiral Daala paced back and forth anxiously while Ysanne Isard watched her from the chair she was comfortably residing in behind her desk.

"Kill the woman now," Isard suggested calmly, her red eye brightening and her blue one becoming colder.

"No, she's going to pay for what she did first," Daala growled out, cracking her knuckles.

"Fine, torture her for a month or two and then kill the hacker. It's risky with her being on board in Imperial custody, as any other Imperial officer with half a brain could be quick to tell you. Besides, you seem to have a tendency to not be able to hold on to the hacker girls you capture. Ritril's first visit and Loran's three years ago," Isard replied coolly.

Daala stopped her pacing abruptly and took three steps forward and placed her hands on the desk, leaning on it. "That was different. The first time, we were merely unprepared. And when that Loran witch came, she was apparently on a mission, a well planned one I must admit. But Ritril's not on a mission and we're better prepared this time."

"Either kill her or hand her over to me," Isard replied firmly. "You still insist on underestimating your opponent. If anything, overestimate them. It's a wonder you haven't yet been killed for your stupidity in these matters."

Any reply the Admiral might've made was cut off by a sharp rap on the door followed by Colonel Tavira Davip entering, saluting sharply.

"Admiral, we've received another report of Tainer exploding things on Mimban."

"Damn," Daala cursed under her breath. "Isn't that the fourth time in the last 24 hours?"

"Seventh actually," the officer corrected, "But then again, who's counting?"

"Inform the local authorities that they are to capture Tainer immediately!"

"Already done, Admiral."

"Well in that case Colonel, perhaps you'll stay a moment or two and shed your thoughts on a matter to us," Isard broke into the conversation smoothly.

Her expression blank, Tavira started to shake her head and say, "I'm afraid I have to get back to the bridge Madam Director, so I'll have to respectfully decline."

An almost predatorily smile on her face, Isard waved her declination off. "I'm sure your men can manage for ten minutes or so on their own. Take a seat."

Stony-faced, Tavira did as ordered and sat down in a chair, her upper body still stiffly upright. Biting her tongue for a moment, Daala did not resume her pacing but instead took a chair as well.

"Now then, I believe you were part of those first two hacker girl captures, correct?" Isard asked.

'Yes, Madam Director," Tavira replied back curtly.

"How would you deal with Commander Ritril?"

"I'd do what the Admiral instructed me to do."

"And if Admiral Daala was not your commanding officer?'

"Than I'd do what my commanding officer told me to do."

Daala raised an eyebrow at the Director of Imperial Intelligence. "Isard, is there a point to this?"

"In good time Admiral, in good time. Now Colonel, let's pretend that you were in the Admiral's place. What then would you do with the computer hacker?"

Tavira frowned slightly and took a moment or two to think over her reply before voicing it. "I'd attempt to turn her to the Imperial ways."

"And if she could not be turned?" Isard inquired.

"Then I'd have her executed for crimes against the Empire," Tavira replied firmly.

Silently, Daala thought a long string of curses she'd learned back in her days at the Imperial Academy. Unbeknownst to her aide, Tavira had just made Isard's case against Daala's own.

"Thank you Colonel," Isard was saying, "Dismissed."

Tavira nodded, stood up, and saluted. "Admiral, Madam Director." Bringing her hand down sharply, she spun around exactly 180 degrees and left the room, the door hissing shut behind her.

"Has my point been proven to you yet Admiral?" the Intelligence Director asked a bit lazily.

"Those are only the opinions of two people," Daala said, gritting her teeth, "Not the majority. Besides, Davip used to be with Intel before she transferred in to my command and she's quite frequently worked with you and your agents."

"It's standard Imperial Intelligence doctrine. Turn or kill your captive."

"I happen to particularly dislike this particular captive. I'll torture her some more and then maybe I'll kill her," Daala said curtly.

* * * * *

If Ysanne Isard had been any less disciplined than she was from years of being trained, she'd have rolled her eyes at Daala's stupidity. But instead, she had to content herself with merely verbally replying.

"You keep grudges Daala, which is what keeps you from acting smarter than you really are. For Palpatine's sake, think for once."

The other woman's eyes narrowed and her face grew hard. "Yes, I might keep some grudges, but that does not stop me from successfully leading this fleet," she snapped back.

"This is Wraith Squadron Admiral Daala. They are the best Intelligence team in the New Republic and they are amongst the best pilots. They crushed Zsinj; do not think that they will hesitate to kill you if the opportunity arises."

Daala opened her mouth to say something; probably along the line of reminding Isard about her own Rouge Squadron disaster, but was cut off as Isard decided to bring it up herself.

"Rouge Squadron defeated me once at Thyferra, yes, but I learned from my mistakes. You have been fighting against these Wraiths and still not managed to learn anything."

"Not exactly true," Daala countered. "I've analyzed their strategies and captured their Bilbringi for several months."

"Yes," Isard acknowledged, "But that's besides the main point. The Wraiths will always come after one of their own, no matter what. Wessiri Antilles can forbid all she wants, but Wraith Squadron will find a way to get back their hacker girl."

Daala frowned slightly, taking in what the other woman was saying. Finally, she nodded. "I'll execute Ritril, but not before she pays in blood. Now then, I've got the duties of command."

Deciding to stand up to show the Admiral some respect, Isard nodded. It hadn't been the complete victory she'd wanted, but it was a start.

"Glad to see you're seeing things my way, Daala. We'll talk more on this later."

As the officer left her office, Isard sat back down in seat, a feral grin on her face. Everything was going according to plan. Daala was too predictable when it came to anything that had to do with intelligence. Or rather, one should say, that she was too predictable when it came to those Wraith hacker girls. Isard had found that if one told Daala to simply torture Ritril or Loran, than she'd come dangerously close to killing the hackers. On the other hand, if she told the Admiral to kill Ritril after several months of torture, than Ritril would be far more likely to remain alive.

It was all just a game and Daala was but a pawn to Isard and consequently, a pawn to Jori Daragon. While Isard's supposed motive was to kill Ritril, only she and Daragon knew better. When the time was right, they'd make their move.

Picking up her comlink, she pulled out the comm frequency of the Sith Mother. It was time to report and this time, she'd be including some 'interesting information' that the medics had recently given her in reference to the current health and well-being of Tyria Ritril.


	4. The First Vision

**Chapter 4: The First Vision**

Cloud paced along one of the corridors of Wraith Squadron angrily.  It had been a month and a half since Tyria had been captured and they were no closer to rescuing his wife than they had been a month and a half ago.  Force, it was hurting him on the inside.  It had been six weeks, forty-two days, 1008 hours, however you wanted to put it since he had held her in his arms, since Kavin and Cerise had seen their mother.  It hurt to be around his kids.  He kept on seeing Tyria's face.  When he looked at Cerise and even with Kavin, he could see some of her features on their faces.

But that really wasn't the worst part.  Every night when he came home, Cerise would ask him if 'Mommy was coming home yet' and the four year old Kavin would simply be sitting there silently, staring at the mechanical gadget in his hands.  It had been almost a relief when his sister-in-law Tyria had offered to take Kavin and Cerise until Tyria returned.

He glanced down at his chrono; 2349.  Force, he hadn't realized how late it was.  Not feeling like taking the turbolift up to his quarters, he simply walked down the hall towards the lounge.

He opened the lounge door and cautiously looked inside to make sure that no one else was in there.  He couldn't put up with the rest of the squad's sympathetic glances and stray thoughts that always seemed to float his way when he was around any of the other pilots.

Upon seeing no one else in the room, he pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked in, carefree shutting it behind him.

Making his way over towards the miniature kitchen that was in the lounge, he grabbed a bottle of lomin ale from the fridge and quickly gulped down half of its contents.  Taking the now half empty bottle with him, he sat down on the nearest couch, taking another swig from the bottle.  Hi kicked his boots off and leaned back so that he was lying belly-up on the sofa, legs swinging up to rest on the couch as well.

The mechanic finished the bottle of ale as his thoughts turned towards Tyria once more.  He wished that she was here right now because he needed her.  Her steady, reassuring, and loving presence had always been there for the last nine or ten years, until now.  Maybe this was the Force's way of trying to tell him something.  Maybe he really hadn't deserved Tyria and that this had all been a mistake.

That was his last conscious thought before he drifted off into a restless sleep.

_He was in the lower levels of Coruscaunt, in a swirling mist.  As he peered through the fog, a tall and slender figure emerged.  It was Tyria.  "'Ria!  Tyria!" he yelled as she ran towards her.  As he reached out to embrace her, she held up a hand, stopping him._

_"Tyria, what's wrong?"  he asked, confused._

_Her features contorted in anger.  'What's wrong?  Is that all you can ask me, Ritril?  'What the hell is wrong?'"  She took a step forward and her face came fully into the light.  Cloud gasped in shock as many a cut and bruise were revealed._

_She laughed hoarsely.  "What, don't like what you see?"  She pulled off her black pilot jacket, leaving her in a black shirt and pants.  Her arms were just as cut up and bruised as her face and several of her fingers looked like they were broken.  "You used me."_

_He held up a hand and tried to stutter out, "No, no!  Tyria, you're wrong!"_

_The hacker slapped him across the face.  "You never loved me Cloud.  I was just your ticket for redemption.  And for you, it worked.  You're a Jedi Knight, a Captain in Starfighter Command, and married with kids.  Now you can just toss me aside."_

_He tried to speak, but it was if some other force prevented it._

_"You lied to me Cloud, you kriffin' lied!"_

_He managed to find his voice again.  "No!  I'd never lie to you Tyria, I love you!"_

_She scoffed with disbelief.  "I've heard that one before.  You told me I didn't need to be afraid.  You told me that you wouldn't let Daala get me.  You vapin' lied Cloud, because where the hell do you think I am?"_

_Cloud's heart felt like it was being torn in two.  He took another step forward and once more failed to take her in his arms.  "We're going to get you out of there."_

_Her tone turned sarcastic.  "Oh, I'm sure you will, Ritril.  I should've let Kell shoot you when I had the chance.  I got sloppy because of you.  I was more worried about getting home than getting the job done correctly.  And now that my sloppiness gave me to Daala, you're not even worried."_

_Another, much taller figure appeared beside her.  It was Kell Tainer.  "I should've shot you when I had the chance, Cloud.  You didn't deserve my sister, she was too good for you and she still is.  She'd be better off right now if I'd never met you on Kashyyyk."_

_The big man spun on his heel and stalked off.  Cloud turned back to face his wife.  "Tyria, please-"_

_She glared at him and slapped him again.  "Don't please me, Captain.  I'm in hell while you comfortably sit at HQ.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I get to go back to being tortured by Daala."  With that, she disappeared._

_"NO!"  Cloud yelled after her, she he ran around looking frantically for her, he faintly began to hear another voice say, "Cloud, Cloud!  Snap out of it buddy."_

He closed his eyes, tear leaking out.  When he reopened them again, he was in the Wraith lounge once more and Nicola and Kell were standing over him, concerned expressions on their faces.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and looked down at his trembling hands.  Kell shoved a cup at him of what appeared to be caf but upon drinking it, definitely was not straight car.  Good, the alcohol would help him.

Nicola frowned slightly as she studied his face and he felt a gentle mind probe through the Force from her.  "You saw Tyria didn't you?"

With a jolt, Cloud remembered his dream.  His mind quickly became a whirling mess of memories flowed through at top speed.  The memories now back, he started to collapse inwardly into himself, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps.  The cup of caf he was holding was swiftly taken from him and another vessel was pressed into his hands.  

"Drink," Nicola's commanding voice said to him.  Not daring to disobey, he complied, draining the entire thing with one gulp.  Bringing the empty shot glass down on the table in front of him, he felt something he could only describe as fire going down his throat and he started to cough.  When he could talk at last somewhat coherently, he gasped out, "What the hell was that?"

"You probably don't want to know," Nicola said tersely watching him rather carefully.

"Well whatever the hell it was," Cloud gasped, "I don't want to ever go near it again."

"That does tend to be what most people say about good old smuggler remedies," Nicola said with a quick grin before her expression became sober once more.  "Now then, what exactly did you see?"

Unable to yet look Kell in the eye, Cloud turned slightly away from his best friend as he replied softly, "It was Tyria, like you said."

Nicola nodded as apparently her earlier suspicions were confirmed.  "Was it a dream or a vision or what?"

Cloud shook his head.  "I don't know, but I hope it wasn't a vision."

"What did you see Cloud?"  Nicola repeated her question of before for a third time.

"Is my sister alright?"  Kell broke in, voice strained by emotion.

Cloud brushed their questions off as he stood up and headed towards the door, not yet ready to talk about this, leaving a slightly confused Nicola and Kell behind.  While he knew that that dream had been merely that; a dream, deep down inside, he couldn't help wondering if the dream-Tyria had been right, maybe he didn't deserve her.

For the first time since he had met Kell, he found himself unable to look his best friend in the eye and his power of speech seemed also to have been robbed from him.  He merely stared at his feet, at his hands, at the floor, at the door, anywhere but at Kell and Nicola.

He heard Nicola sigh softly and say to Kell in a calm and quiet tone, "Kell , could you please go find Adra and tell her that I'm going to be ten minutes late to that sim we have scheduled?"  
  


It wasn't a question really, he and Kell both could plainly see that.  No, it was more like an order for Kell to leave.

Kell stood up and replied quickly yet quietly, "Yeah, sure thing Nicola."  A few seconds later, the door closed shut behind the tall man and Cloud ventured a look over at Nicola as he returned back to his seat on the couch.  There was a steely look in the red head's silver eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well?  Spit it out already, Ritril," she said calmly as ever.

Looking back down at his hands, he replied a bit sullenly, "I saw Tyria, we were here, on Coruscaunt, in the lower levels.  She was bruised all over; like she'd gone a couple rounds with a rancor."  He halted his telling, hesitant to continue.  Nicola pulled a chair over and sat down in it, still facing him and her expression urging him to continue.

"We talked, I think I asked her what had happened to her and then she started talking, it didn't sound like her at all.  She slapped me a few times and-" His voice choked up and it was several moments before he could continue and when he did, his voice was just barely a hoarse whisper.  "She said that I had lied to her and that I had used her as my ticket to redemption, that I hadn't deserved her."

To his shock, Cloud felt a tear roll down his cheek and he quickly wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Listen to me Cloud,"  Nicola finally said.  "Tyria loves you, the two of you deserve each other and you were meant to be together.  She wouldn't have gone through two pregnancies if she hadn't.  Trust me, I've gone through two- no two and a half pregnancies and no woman would willingly go through that nine month hell unless she really loved a man."

Nicola's little speech helping him a bit, Cloud nodded at last and looked up as the door to the lounge opened and Tyria Tainer and his little Cerise came in, the toddler running straight into Cloud's open arms.

As he hugged his daughter tightly, gently running his fingers through her blonde hair, he couldn't beat back this insistent little nagging that maybe Nicola was wrong and that the Tyria from his dream had been right.  Maybe he didn't deserve all this; his second chance that had turned out near perfect.

The rest of the day passed by as normal for the rest of the Wraiths, but Cloud still carried that annoying and nagging though about his relationship and whether it was all just a Force-damned sham.


End file.
